New iPhone draws a crowd in Columbus, elsewhere

Friday

Sep 21, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 21, 2012 at 7:07 PM

Apple fans jammed shops in Columbus and across to the globe become owners of the iPhone 5. In Columbus, a crowd of about 100 people waited for the Apple store at Easton Town Center to open. By late morning, the fast-moving line was down to a few dozen people who had arrived less than half an hour before. Analysts have estimated Apple will ship as many as 10 million of the new iPhones by the end of September.

Tim Feran, The Columbus Dispatch

Apple fans jammed shops in Columbus and across the globe to become owners of the iPhone 5.

In Columbus, a crowd of about 100 people waited for the Apple store at Easton Town Center to open. By late morning, the fast-moving line was down to a few dozen people who had arrived less than half an hour before.

Vicki Larmee had driven in from Pickerington to buy the iPhone 5 for her son, a senior at Pickerington North High School. “He has an old cellphone, just short of a can and a string,” she said. “He keeps texting me, ‘Do you have it yet?’”

Farther up the line, Brad Hatcher of Columbus patiently waited for his new iPhone, which will be his fourth. “My brother and I make graphics for games on iPhones and we have to see if our stuff works on it,” he said. Hatcher planned to sell his iPhone 4 and use the cash from that to help pay for the new iPhone.

The new iPhone has a bigger screen, lightweight body design and faster microprocessor, and is compatible with speedier wireless networks. Software upgrades include new mapping and turn-by-turn navigation features.

Technology gadget reviewers mostly praised the new device, especially for its swifter wireless speeds that improve Web browsing and other data-hungry tasks. One criticism was the new mapping features, which don’t include details on how to navigate public transportation.

The problems with the new phone’s mapping app was of little concern to Hatcher. “I can go to the browser and pull up Google Maps,” he said. “Really, I don’t use (the map function) much anyway. I have GPS in my trunk and I haven’t used it in a year.”

A couple standing next to Hatcher, Bob and Gloria Taylor of Columbus, do intend to use the mapping function as soon as this weekend when they visit Florida. The Taylors had a 3-year-old iPhone, “and I need an update,” Bob Taylor said. They had been unaware of any issues with the maps until Hatcher talked about it.

The new iPhone’s faster microprocessor and bigger screen were the main attractions to Heath Cordas of Columbus, who had previously owned an iPhone 4, “and then I got the 4s,” he said. Cordas wasn’t concerned about the mapping issues, either.

“It doesn’t reflect the phone itself, just the software,” he said. Cordas didn’t use the mapping function on his earlier phone, “I use the Siri reminder to pay bills and for personal stuff,” he said.

Analysts have estimated Apple will ship as many as 10 million of the new iPhones by the end of September.